Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A rule change that electrical inspectors say elevates the risk of people being electrocuted is being reviewed.

The change – made late last year – lifted a ban on inserting a switch, circuit or fuse into mains power earthing systems in houses and businesses.

The Electrical Inspectors Association wrote to the government a week ago, asking it to intervene with Worksafe.

Energy Minister Simon Watts said he took feedback from stakeholders seriously.

“The regulatory amendment lays the foundation for future measures to ensure electric vehicle charging meets safety expectations, and allow for improved disaster resilience,” Watts said in a statement.

WorkSafe’s Energy Safety team had commissioned an independent review by an international expert to provide assurance on their advice to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which instituted the rule change.

Worksafe issued initial guidance to the industry and had said it was working on further technical guidance on protective earth neutral conductor (PEN) switching.

The inspectors’ letter on 29 January said they had failed to persuade Worksafe.

“The PEN conductor is the single most important wire in any electrical installation,” they wrote.

If it was broken or ‘switched-off’, the installation’s earth moved up toward a phase voltage.

“This is very dangerous and can result in multiple fatalities. Now, a compliant New Zealand electrical installation with no faults present can now be lethal.”

They offered to provide a tabletop demonstration of this and for Worksafe to demonstrate the converse if it could.

“Please use independent thought and guidance when replying to this issue as we believe WorkSafe is in ‘cover-up’ mode,” association president Warren Willets wrote to Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, who transferred it to Watts.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/very-dangerous-electrical-rule-change-to-be-reviewed/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The defence for a District Court Judge accused of disrupting an NZ First event has told a judicial conduct panel the affair has been blown “out of all proportion”.

Judge Ema Aitken was appearing before the panel in Auckland on Tuesday, accused of disrupting a function at Auckland’s exclusive Northern Club in 2024.

She was accused of shouting that NZ First leader Winston Peters was lying.

Judge Aitken said she did not shout, did not recognise Peters’ voice when she responded to remarks she overheard and did not know it was a political event.

Her lawyer, David Jones, KC, opened his case by praising the judge’s career, describing her as diligent and a judge of principle.

He explained why the judge continued to fight the allegations.

“She is a judge of principle, and she is a judge of integrity, and she is not going to resign over something that she did not do,” he said.

Jones maintained Judge Aitken did not know it was Winston Peters speaking at the Northern Club, and that she was unaware of the political context when she made her comments.

Jones raised the concern of handing the acting attorney-general a ‘loaded gun’ if they found consideration of removal was justified.

Special Counsel Tim Stephens, KC, had said on Monday final say on removal of the judge fell with acting Attorney-General Paul Goldsmith.

Jones pointed to the fact that Goldsmith was a politician.

“Now, it’s been said, well, the attorney-general has to act lawfully,” he said.

“We have the very real political context of the complaint generated by, it seems, a political situation, and all of the issues that have been raised about the reports in the media, they are all political issues,” he said.

“So, this is a politicized situation, not of the judge’s making, but of others, and what you have is a situation where in the current climate, for example it’s an election year, we have coalition issues that obviously are going to be concerning some people, and the attorney-general, if he gets the loaded gun from the panel, what considerations will come into play there?”

Jones said the emphasis of the panel had to be on fairness, natural justice, and fitness for office.

Comments ‘rude’, justifies consideration of removal

Presenting the allegations of misconduct to the panel, Stephens said the panel was responsible for reporting on the judge’s conduct, finding the facts, and ultimately recommending if the judge should be removed.

He continued his opening from Monday, addressing the allegations Judge Aitken faced, and what happened on that night in 2024.

He started by providing political context on leading up to the alleged disturbance, leading with a complaint made by lawyer Gary Judd, KC, over compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students.

The complaint was supported by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters who said teaching tikanga was “cultural indoctrination”.

A select committee largely rejected a complaint in April last year.

The next piece of context Stephens gave was the haka that broke out in Parliament following the vote for the Treaty Principles Bill.

Stephens referenced NZ First MP Casey Costello, who at the time had said NZ First would only support the bill to first reading.

Minister Costello is expected to be called as a witness before the judicial conduct panel.

On the night in question, Stephens said Judge Aitken had been attending a function for district court judges, while at the same time, a NZ First event was taking place in another part of the Northern Club.

Stephens said part of Winston Peters’ speech at that event mentioned both the teaching of tikanga at law school, as well as the party’s position on the Treaty Principles Bill.

“The allegations that I make or that I present are that while the deputy prime minister was speaking, Judge Aitken interrupted him in the New Zealand First dinner by heckling the deputy prime minister, accusing the deputy prime minister of lying and being a liar, saying that the deputy prime minister’s comments were disgusting…”

In the wake of the incident, Stephens said Judge Aitken wrote to NZ First apologising for what happened.

He told the panel a key fact finding part of their job would be determining when the judge realised the speaker at the event was Peters and if she knew it was a NZ First event.

It was Stephens submission that Judge Aitken’s behaviour was rude, and brought the judiciary into conflict with the executive branch of government.

“I will submit that even if the judge didn’t know that the speaker was the deputy prime minister at the exact point in time or prior to when she made her comments, my submission will be that her conduct seen in the round still justifies consideration of removal,” he said.

Disclosure issue clarified

The second day of the hearing begun with the panel addressing concerns from David Jones, KC, about what he described as undisclosed evidence claimed from Special Counsel.

Lead panellist Brendan Brown, KC, explained they had received an application from Judge Aitken just before Waitangi weekend, seeking disclosure of witness material.

The panel directed Special Counsel to disclose relevant documents to the judge, which Stephens stated he had already made all such disclosures.

The panellist also defined what the word ‘document’, and the reference to a ‘document authored’ meant, as raised by Jones on Monday.

Brown said the purpose of his clarification was to comply the rules of natural justice.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/judge-accused-of-disrupting-nz-first-event-wont-resign-over-something-she-did-not-do/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Australian white supremacist who massacred 51 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques was pleased to be charged with committing terrorism, the Court of Appeal has heard.

Convicted murderer and terrorist Brenton Tarrant made the admission to one of his lawyers after being advised of the charge in May 2019.

The 35-year-old wants to vacate his guilty pleas for the 15 March 2019 terror attacks at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre and stand trial instead.

In March 2020, the gunman pleaded guilty at the High Court to 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of committing a terrorist act.

He was jailed for life without parole in August 2020.

The terrorist’s former lawyers Jonathan Hudson and Shane Tait, who represented him from late March 2019 until July 2020, gave evidence at a Court of Appeal hearing in Wellington on Tuesday morning.

Lawyers representing the terrorist at the Court of Appeal have name suppression.

During an exchange with a lawyer known only as counsel B, Hudson said the terrorist gave surprising responses to being advised of a 51st charge of murder and a charge of terrorism being laid against him.

Hudson’s affidavit described an “extremely unusual response” to the final murder charge.

“It wasn’t the response I had expected,” Hudson told the court, although he did not elaborate.

Hudson also detailed the gunman’s response to being advised of the terrorism charge in late May 2019.

“He was pleased,” he said.

“He wanted to be described as a terrorist.”

Hudson told the court the terrorist expressed a willingness to immediately plead guilty to the charge of terrorism, while at the same time maintaining a desire to plead not guilty to the murder and attempted murder charges.

The terrorist pleaded not guilty to all charges in June 2019 and contacted Hudson on 31 July 2019 when he expressed a desire to plead guilty.

Hudson said the terrorist’s change of heart came as a surprise.

Two days later Hudson met the terrorist in prison and read a letter outlining the pleas and the case against him.

There was no change in the terrorist’s demeanour, Hudson said.

Four days later the terrorist had another change of heart shortly before he was due to formally enter his pleas in court.

Hudson received the news via a phone call from the terrorist.

“We only had 20 minutes before the scheduled teleconference with the judge,” Hudson told the court.

“I went to visit him at the prison afterwards to confirm his instructions.”

Guilty plea

Asked by counsel B if he found the terrorist’s changing mind to be “illogical or irrational”, Hudson said he attributed it to “the seriousness of the punishment he faced if he went through with the guilty plea”.

Hudson had made the terrorist aware he faced life imprisonment without parole regardless of whether he pleaded guilty or not.

Tait and Hudson told the court the terrorist always intended to plead guilty.

“He was consistent that he was going to plead guilty but he was inconsistent as to when he would plead guilty,” Hudson said.

Tait said he advised the terrorist he had no defence in law, the evidence against him was overwhelming and he accepted that advice and intended to plead guilty.

He said the terrorist had raised wanting to claim he was defending New Zealand from overpopulation from migrant communities.

“I made it clear that defence was not available to him,” Tait said.

Tait advised the terrorist that there was a possible defence to the terrorism charge because no-one had been convicted of the offence at the time.

“To be clear Mr Tarrant never wanted to defend the terrorism charge. It was something he wanted to be convicted of,” he said.

Tait and Hudson continued preparing for trial on the basis it might proceed.

As part of their preparation, Tait advised the terrorist to seek a change in venue for trial.

That application was quite advanced before the terrorist abandoned it, although Tait was not surprised.

“It was just another attempt for him to try to control the proceedings,” he told the court.

“I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t happy but I envisaged he may attempt to do something like that.

“His explanation is he didn’t want to be seen to be running away from the trauma he had caused the community.”

Tarrant’s extreme ideology seemed to be “more important to him than any idea of fair trial rights”, Tait said.

The court heard the terrorist had regularly ignored the advice of his lawyers, including in his desire to give a statement to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attack.

The terrorist gave evidence to the court on Monday, in his first public remarks since the 2019 mass shooting.

During his evidence he claimed he always intended on dismissing his lawyers, going to trial and representing himself.

He felt “forced” to plead guilty in March 2020 because of his deteriorating mental state and his fear he would make a fool of himself at trial.

His argument for vacating his guilty pleas amounted to the terrorist claiming he was incapable of making a rational decision at the time because of the solitary nature of confinement.

Hudson and Tait disputed the terrorist’s claim he had raised dismissing them.

Tait said the terrorist had only ever discussed representing himself at sentencing.

Tait recalled regularly pressing the terrorist for an arguable defence to take to trial and the terrorist made clear he was going to plead guilty, it was just a matter of when.

“Brenton what am I going to tell a jury?,” Tait recalled asking the terrorist.

“Don’t worry, it won’t get to that,” he said the terrorist would respond.

The terrorist, who is housed in the specialist prisoners of extreme risk unit at Auckland Prison, told the court on Monday any remorse he had expressed before his August 2020 sentencing was because of his isolation and poor mental state.

“I did express some remorse. I would now say that was induced by the prison conditions, I was irrational,” the terrorist told the court.

“It was actually real but it was induced by the prison conditions inducing the irrationality.”

The hearing is set down for five days.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/christchurch-mosque-shooter-wanted-to-be-called-a-terrorist-ex-lawyer-says/

Source: Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/shaking-the-marae-grounds-at-waitangi/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tongariro’s mayor says the government should consider a proposal from an unnamed investor to return the Chateau Tongariro to its former status as a hotel.

The heritage building has been sitting empty since it was closed in February 2023 due to its earthquake risk, and the government has said it could be demolished or decommissioned.

Mayor Weston Kirton told Nine to Noon the response to a petition he put to the government to preserve the building was encouraging, but there were still many issues to resolve.

“We have an investor – a New Zealander – who has experience in high-end hotels, 5-star hotels, and heritage buildings and has a history around this type of activity.”

The investor was willing to put down about $100 million of private money to refurbish and repair the Chateau, Kirton said.

He was also asking for a 120-year lease, which is significantly more than the government usually allows, he added.

The government preferred to talk in terms of 30-year leases, which would discourage anyone from making such a significant investment into the Chateau, Kirton said.

The building has been in the hands of the Department of Conservation (DOC) since it was closed, as it sits on conservation land.

He pointed out that while the government was making a decision on what to do with the building, it was gradually falling further into disrepair.

“Every year that goes by adds to the expenditure on that particular building.”

Although it was important for DOC to maintain control over conservation land alongside local iwi, it was a pity the government would not consider carving out the land around the Chateau for a potential sale, Kirton said.

“That’s unfortunate,” he said – although he agreed that would set quite a precedent for future concessions.

For a deal to get done that would work for the investor, there would likely need to be changes to the Conservation Act in Parliament, Kirton said.

“That’s not hard for them to do … all they need to do now is put it up to Parliament to actually get it over the line and get on with the job.”

He said they had held talks with local iwi, who were “very interested” by the investor’s proposal.

“They are very passionate about the activities that could take place there, and it’s because they’ve been involved over the last few decades.

“This is not new to iwi – they see the potential for investments themselves.”

Kirton said it was his understanding that DOC and the government had not engaged iwi to the same level as the private investor.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/investor-proposal-to-return-chateau-tongariro-to-hotel-status-should-be-considered-mayor/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police have “grave concerns” for a woman who has not been seen for six months and are considering the possibility she may have been the victim of foul play.

They say her children want their mother back and the family are desperate for answers.

Rowena Walker was reported missing by her mother on 22 October.

In an interview with RNZ, Detective Senior Sergeant Jo Carolan said the 39-year-old’s last confirmed sighting was in Christchurch on 14 August last year.

“It appears that her last digital footprint, social media, phones, etc, was on the 15th of August 2025, she’s also had no contact with any of her children since around that date, which is very out of character for her.”

Carolan said the fact Walker had been missing without any trace for six months was “hugely concerning”.

“We’re really worried about her and have grave concerns for her safety, that she may no longer be alive is a possibility that we have to consider, but we’re exploring all the possibilities in detail,” she said.

“Rowena is a vulnerable person in the community, and we have to consider the possibility that she’s been the victim of foul play. We are keeping an open mind and exhausting all lines of inquiry, including that possibility. Rowena’s mother is caring for some of her grandchildren, and it’s really important that those kids have an answer as to where mum has gone.”

Asked if police had any persons of interest, Carolan said police were “talking to a number of people” and following every lead available.

“I won’t go into specifics of that, but it is fair to say that we’re sticking to everybody who is made known to us.”

Carolan said Walker was “reasonably transient” and was known to have family and associates all over the country.

“We don’t want to rule out any region of New Zealand, if there’s, if there’s somebody who would like to talk to us, who knows something about what has happened to her, we will speak to anybody from anywhere in the country,” she said.

“We have conducted a number of inquiries with people throughout Tasman, some Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Christchurch areas, and that is going to continue for as long as necessary.”

She said the last six months had been “very hard” on Walker’s family, particularly her mother and children.

“They haven’t seen mum now for six months and don’t understand why that is, they very much want to have mum back.

“They had almost daily contact with her, and now they don’t. And it’s it’s very sad situation. We just want to find out what’s happened to Rowena, so that we can let her family know”

Carolan said there will be someone out there who knows what happened to Walker.

“We are looking for more information, and we’re interested in hearing from anybody in the community who has anything to provide, whether they think it might not be very significant. We’d rather hear about it and make that assessment for ourselves. So we appeal to everybody in the community to come forward with any information that they have.”

She said the “best case scenario” was that Walker was alive and well.

“And for whatever reason, keeping herself to herself, and I would say to her that she’s got family and friends who are extremely worried about her and kids who miss her very, very much. And if that is the case, we would appeal to her to please, reach out to somebody.”

Carolan said despite the time between her last sighting and when police were notified, detectives had “really strong lines of inquiry” with a “significant number of staff” working on the investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to please contact Police online through 105.police.govt.nz or call 105, referencing file number 251022/9026.

Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/grave-concerns-for-missing-woman-not-seen-for-six-months/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A former Education Ministry staff member says the government’s curriculum rewrite ignored the views of many subject experts and teachers.

Waikato University academic Claire Coleman told Nine to Noon she worked on the curriculum until the middle of last year and said it was chaotic and politicised.

“There were changes, not following processes around procurement of the members of newly-appointed writing groups, getting rid of entire contributing groups and replacing them with people that had previous relationships with the minister, had conflicts of interest… being told ‘we’re not going to write this down because we don’t want people to know… so it’s not OIA-able’, essentially, that kind of behaviour,” she said.

Coleman made similar allegations during a submission to the Education and Workforce Select Committee on the government’s Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill recently.

She told Nine to Noon she started working for the ministry on a rewrite of the Arts curriculum in 2022, but that was paused in late 2023 following the change of government.

“By the time that I left in the beginning of 2025, it was evident that none of the work that we had done was going to be used and they weren’t really interested in any of our expertise,” she said.

Coleman agreed a change of government could bring a change of direction for the curriculum, but she said the process was inappropriate and the public should be concerned.

She said she assumed government ministries would follow good-faith practices involving rigourous debate but that was not the case with the curriculum rewrite.

“What I saw was a case of ‘we’re not interested in talking to the people who know, this is what we want to do and we’re going to do it regardless’ and it’s a sort of ‘my way or the highway’ approach,” she said.

Coleman said the government should have listened to a wider range of views on the curriculum.

“You need a diverse range of opinions. You need to work through all of the nuances that are in education. It is a complicated space and you need to know enough to know what you don’t know and to bring in the right people into those conversations and to rely on the expertise and that’s, I think, the point of having a ministry,” she said.

“Regardless of which direction you want this to go in or regardless of what policy you want, you draw on the best people and the best evidence that you’ve got to make that a really solid piece of work.”

Coleman said proposed law changes would give future education ministers the power to rewrite the curriculum again, but that work should be left to education experts.

Education Minister Erica Stanford was asked to comment and her office referred Nine to Noon to an Education Ministry response supplied following Coleman’s select committee appearance.

It said the ministry was responsible for writing the curriculum and worked with a wide range of local education experts, teachers and other stakeholders.

“The curriculum-writing process is rigourous and includes multiple cycles of review and refinement. It combines evidence, insights, and experiences over the last 20 years with formal feedback and input from a wide range of groups from across the education sector,” the statement said.

“Ministers have always been responsible for the curriculum sign-off as part of the process.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/ex-ministry-staffer-accuses-government-of-ignoring-education-experts-teachers/

Source: Radio New Zealand

NZ Post says the volume of British passport applications is causing delays to them being sent to the UK.

A new requirement for dual nationality citizens to use a British passport to travel there took many travellers by surprise last month.

And with the deadline for the change only a fortnight away – 25 February – applications surged.

PostShop staff told customers they had to use an express service, which cost $121, to send their applications. But some people, following their packages’ progress using online trackers, noticed the applications were being held up at an Auckland mail centre before being sent to the UK.

One customer said her package was waiting In Auckland for nearly two weeks, without anyone contacting her to say there was an issue.

The tracker now showed ‘air transport planning is underway’.

NZ Post last week said incorrect customer declarations were responsible for delays.

But it has now apologised and said it was working to overcome the hold-up.

“Due to the increase in the number of passport applications being sent to the UK at the moment, it is taking a bit longer than usual for some of these items to move through their journey,” said a spokesperson. “We’re sorry for the delay and can assure customers that we are working as fast as possible to get these important items where they need to be.”

Staff checked that each item had complete information on its customs declaration, she said.

“This is a manual process and is taking a bit longer than usual due to the increased number we are receiving. We can assure customers that we are working through these as quickly as possible, including contacting individual customers who have missed some information off their Customs Declarations. We’re actively working on a solution to help speed this process up and get these items moving as fast as we can.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/nz-post-says-deluge-of-uk-passport-applications-causing-delays/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government wants taxpayers to pay for a new liquefied natural gas import terminal, but is promising lower power prices will come as a result.

It is estimated the new terminal, expected to be ready next year at the earliest, will save New Zealanders around $265 million a year by reducing price spikes and lowering the risk premiums.

But a new levy will be charged to get it built.

The government is touting it as a solution to New Zealand’s energy woes.

“It will mean that Kiwis will not need to suffer through an endless series of winter bill shocks,” energy minister Simon Watts said on Monday.

‘Vital part of the overall puzzle’ – Energy Resources Aotearoa

The idea is that it will reduce the risk of shortages during a dry year.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be imported at large volumes, stored, and then ‘regasified’ to be sent out for use.

John Carnegie, chief executive of industry body Energy Resources Aotearoa, said the terminal would be a useful insurance policy for when the weather did not play ball.

“LNG will be useful as a vital part of the overall puzzle of New Zealand’s energy system security,” he said.

“LNG can be expected to take the heat out of the electricity market when renewable fuels like wind, water, and the sun don’t turn up when they’re needed. It will place downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices and reduce the risk premium in the out years.”

Last year’s Frontier Report – commissioned to review the performance of the electricity market – warned it should only be used as a last resort.

The report said using it just to meet dry year risk made no economic sense, as the large fixed costs would be spread over a relatively small amount of output.

But Carnegie said LNG provided a “virtuous circle” to support the development of more renewables, and pointed the finger at the previous government’s ban on offshore oil and gas exploration as a reason why power prices were spiking in dry years.

“More wind and solar and batteries are great, but also the conundrum is their growth exacerbates the problem of being too weather dependent. So we need a reliable fuel to fill the gaps which domestic gas previously filled. And so New Zealand’s energy system, I believe, will be at its most effective when renewable generation and firming fuels like LNG and domestic gas work in harmony.”

A separate study by gas company Clarus, along with the four gentailers, found it was feasible but would likely be costly, and only needed occasionally.

Following the announcement, Clarus’ chief executive Paul Goodeve said it would increase New Zealand’s energy resilience and increase the range of markets it could draw from.

“At the moment, the coal that we import is relatively restricted where it comes from. The global market in LNG is vast and diverse, and appears to be continuing as we speak.”

Goodeve was confident it could be financially sustainable, and the government’s involvement in the procurement system made sense.

“It appears as though they’ve got work done by financial advisors who pointed out the benefits to the overall New Zealand energy system, but particularly the electricity system, of having LNG in the mix.”

Details on the shortlist of six were being kept under wraps, but all were in Taranaki.

Port of Taranaki chief executive Simon Craddock said it was a great opportunity for the region, and while the port was not an LNG developer, it was keen to support it.

“The current terminal developments, as I understand it, are all focused on the Taranaki region, and the reason for that is largely proximity to the Maui gas pipeline. But the developers are international companies who may or may not partner with local interests.”

Craddock said there was nothing the port had seen that could have major adverse effects on its current trade.

“The port has a number of advantages… the proximity to the pipeline, we’re the only deep water port on the West Coast. So this is the sort of thing we do day to day, where our main customer to-date has been Methanex. We also have other petrochemical customers on the port, so it really is within our core business suite.”

ACT’s energy spokesperson Simon Court said it was a “sad but necessary bookend” to the oil and gas exploration ban.

“Labour promoted the view that gas is something to be ashamed of. It’s not. Gas is a practical, reliable option when hydro lakes are low. Gas keeps factories running, heaters humming, and lights buzzing. And the environmental case for gas is strong too, because when we can’t burn gas, we burn coal,” he said.

‘It’s cooked’ – Green Party

On Monday, Watts said discussions were commercially sensitive but it would cost “north of a billion dollars” to build.

To pay for those infrastructure costs, the government will charge users an electricity levy of $2 to $4 per megawatt hour.

But Watts was keen to point to the net benefit, with advice showing the facility was expected to cut future prices by at least $10 per megawatt hour.

“So straight away, we’re in the money in regards to benefits versus costs, and our expectation of having that certainty of supply takes away the price spikes that we saw, for example, in 2024.”

That has not convinced the Green Party.

Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the government was guaranteeing added costs to New Zealanders, while relying on “hopes, wishes, and prayers” for future savings.

“I think it’s absolutely bonkers for power bills, for the planet, for our country’s energy resilience. The only people who want this are the fossil fuel industry and seemingly the National Party. Whatever claim, whatever remaining claim the Nats have to being economic managers is now, frankly, up in flames,” she said.

“Honestly, it’s cooked. Christopher Luxon has once again chosen to throw New Zealanders’ money at fossil fuels, which is bad for power bills, energy security and the planet. This is Christopher Luxon’s New Zealand. Profits are flowing offshore, while New Zealanders are paying handsomely for it.”

‘Gas tax’ – Labour

Labour, meanwhile, is calling it a “gas tax”.

Leader Chris Hipkins said households were already struggling with the cost of living, and he did not believe it would reduce power prices.

“I think, if anything, they’re trying to make the argument that this will decrease the rate of increase in power prices. There are other ways to do that. A billion dollars would buy you a hell of a lot of solar panels and batteries, which would save households a significant amount of money.”

Hipkins dismissed questions over whether Labour would terminate any agreements, or put the costs onto the energy companies and take away the levy on households, as “hypothetical.”

The prime minister’s assertion it was a levy, and not a tax, was criticised by the Taxpayers’ Union.

“You don’t make electricity bills cheaper by taxing them. Dancing on the head of a pin over what is a tax and what is a levy is a Labour Party talking point. Luxon should spare us the spin and abandon this folly,” said spokesperson James Ross.

Climate change advocacy group 350 Aotearoa was previously one of twenty signatories that sent an open letter to Luxon and Watts, urging against the new terminal when it was first signalled in October.

Following the confirmation, co-director Alva Feldmeier said while she agreed with the government that New Zealanders were feeling the squeeze with their power bills, the terminal was not the solution.

“Essentially, what they’re doing now is putting a new tax on every New Zealander’s power bill to subsidise an expensive sunset industry,” she said.

Feldmeier said LNG-generated electricity was double the price of new renewable electricity, and the risk of importing and being reliant on international fossil fuels was that New Zealand could also import international price shocks.

“This is a political choice this government is making. They’d rather kowtow to the fossil fuel and the gas lobbies and keep us hooked on gas for longer, than explore how we’re going to get off it, and how we’re going to make some tough decisions in the next few months and years.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/10/new-liquefied-natural-gas-terminal-vital-or-bonkers/